Local schools lead statewide Farm to School movement

9:29 AM,
Oct. 16, 2013

Pittsville eighth-graders Martina Schulz, Heather Schubert, Kennedy Carlson, Mckayla Behselich, Amber Guden, Becky Holford, Miranda Sturgis and Courtney Reno pose with the butternut squash they planted last spring and harvested this fall. Pittsville Food Service Director Joe Dostal and his team prepared the squash and served it to students school-wide in October. Pittsville teacher Bill Urban and his Plant to Plate Expo seventh-and-eighth-grade students planted and harvested the squash.

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In September, Wood County school districts combined to grow their monthly local food purchases by 600 percent, as compared to just two years ago.

The schools' combined purchases from local farmers totaled more than 12,000 pounds, or $6,500 in local foods for student meals last month. Produce items ranged from watermelon and carrots, to butternut squash, potatoes and zucchini.

With these quantities of local foods in student lunch lines, local school food service directors are putting Wood County on the map as a leader in the state and national Farm to School movement. ...